Sunday, April 22, 2012

This delightful post by Lauren Potts is about our shop. Thanks so much Lauren and it was a real pleasure to meet you!!! You can read about the rest of the NE Ohio Hoppin' Bead Shops here, but of coarse I'm a mite partial to mine. :-)

What an awesome place this was!! Such beautiful quality pieces and such
artistry around the store with student and employee made pieces. The
store had a great feel to it and everything was just lovely. I also met
a lovely woman who it turned out I was already following here on
blogspot. Her name is Eva Sherman and you can follow herBLOG too. What a talented lady she is and a very inspiring artist!

Grand River was having a Czech glass trunk show. I didn't buy much just a few strands.

I loved this design! It was so simple and definitely sparked something
in me to try more often. I'd like to do this and fire one with a torch
or use different patina dyes. Here she just dipped it in the liver of
sulfur to oxidize it and what a feel it has afterwards. I definitely am
inspired from this piece and can't wait to make more as stackers!!!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Not exactly sure where I was going with this design, except that I was trying to "build" a 3D cuff....I won't show you the inside of the cuff, but trust me, there was a bit of "jury rigging" going on...

Oh and FYI, riveting chain to sheet is somewhat akin to nailing jello to the wall...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

On Saturday evening I took a class with Eva Sherman, owner of Grand River Beads,
titled Textured Copper Cuffs. Eva showed us how to anneal copper with a
torch, texture it, form and rivet it. She also brought in some
gorgeous cuffs that she created, wetting our appetites.

She then set us loose to create two-three cuffs of our own. It didn't
take me long to get over my torch phobia either! Here is what I
created...

Both Eva and Brenda were fantastic instructors! I really enjoyed each
class and my newly acquired knowledge. Can't wait to create! By the way,
both classes will be offered at Bead Fest in August!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

My newest, most favorite material to create with is "Roman Glass" which is 700-900 year old glass that has been recycled. This piece comes from Afghanistan and I think it's the perfect accent for my "scribbling with wire" technique! :-)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I've been attending the Philly Bead Fest for 6 years now; as student, a vendor, an instructor and of coarse, always a shopper! My best find this year? THE most comprehensive book on jewelry making I think I've ever seen; in addition to covering the basics (soldering, riveting, texturing, etc.) it provides info you might not find outside a college level fine arts program. Want to know about marrying metals? It's in there. Reticulation? In there. Electroforming? Well, you get the idea. Seriously, the best $40 I spent all weekend.

This was also the first year I taught classes. I had 5 students for "Scribble Cuffs and Doodle Rings" and 10 for "Textured Copper Cuffs". Both went smoothly, I didn't forget any required tools or materials (being an obsessive list maker has it's upside), and all the students left on time and with finished projects. Whew....

Earlier this year I hooked up with Gina Galli of the Jewelry Making Professor and arranged to shoot some videos at their studio in Philly. This is me, on the set. And yes, I am a jewelry nerd......

Looking for an easy wire wrapping technique that can be used to dress
up almost any kind of bead? This caged bead wire wrap
pattern works particularly well on larger round beads like the gorgeous
ones used here. This design may also be adapted to create a necklace by increasing the number of beads.

This tutorial was created by me and may be used for your personal use. I
respectfully request that you not copy it, but feel free to direct
others to this link. Thank you!

Materials:

(8-10) 10mm beads

(12') 18 gauge copper wire

(2") of 16 gauge copper wire

(1) 4mm copper jump ring

Wire cutters

Round nose pliers

Chain nose pliers

Hammer

Steel block

Instructions:

1. Cut 14” of 18 gauge copper wire. Using your round nose pliers,
make a small wire wrapped loop at the center. String bead on vertical
wire and make another small wire wrapped loop at the other end.

2. Holding the top loop with your chain nose pliers, begin to
gently wrap the wire over the top of the bead in a spiral pattern. Make
approximately 5 to 6 wraps. Be careful to apply even tension and
pressure and you will form a bead cap. Repeat the spiral wire wrap at the opposite end of the bead.

3. Bend leftover wire towards the opposite pole with a gentle curve and loop it around the wire wrapped loop. Trim excess wire.

4. Create another loop at the other end of the bead in the same
way. Repeat the previous steps through the first loop only with your
second bead.

5. At the opposite end of the second bead, start the wire wrapped loop as shown.

6. Before closing the wire loop, slip the first bead on, then
continue with making the wire wrapped loop and the bead cap. Repeat
these steps until you have enough beads to go around your wrist, less
1/2 inch.

7. For the dangle bead begin by making a spiral as shown. It should be about the same size as the other bead caps.

8. Instead of a spiral wrap on the other end, create a loop: Bend
leftover wire towards the opposite pole with a gentle curve and loop it
around the wire wrapped loop. Spiral wrap back to bottom again. Trim
excess wire. Connect the dangle bead to the last bead with the jump
ring.

9. Make an “S” hook using the 16 gauge copper wire. Hammer it on
the steel block to harden. Attach it to the last bead as shown. Hook the
“S” hook in the jump ring to close. The dangle bead will keep the
bracelet evenly weighted so it does not spin on wrist.

Monday, April 2, 2012

This weekend I had a play date with my good friend Carla Meinberg, who showed me and a few other daring souls the ins and outs of working with a rolling mill. A whole new world of textured metals has now opened up to me and I look at everything, and I mean everything as possible fodder for the mill. A few idea's for future use....raffia, sand paper, leather, old t-shirts, packing paper......and I'm sure I'll come up with many more. This cuff was created with WireKnitZ to texturize the base, copper wire on the the top layer, and then heat patina'd after an LOS bath. Pretty. Darn. Fun. Day!!!